Wichita City Hall slams the brakes on huge car show because of COVID-19 pandemic
Concern over coronavirus has put the brakes on one of Wichita’s biggest car events of the year.
The City Council on Tuesday denied an appeal that would have allowed the Automobilia Moonlight Charity Car Show to have rolled forward on Saturday.
The CEO of the show, Joshua Blick, said he will reschedule the car show for later this month elsewhere in Sedgwick County.
Automobilia organizers had expected to draw 20,000 car enthusiasts to a closed-down section of Douglas this weekend. In addition to cars, organizers promised five live bands, three food courts, a live auction and a drag down Douglas after the show.
But the permit had been rejected by city staff as an unacceptable risk to public health with the COVID-19 pandemic still accelerating in the community.
The final rejection of the car-show permit came three days after a special meeting Friday, where council members approved an ordinance requiring people to wear protective face masks when shopping and participating in public gatherings.
The vote was the same 4-3 split as on the mask ordinance and for largely the same reasons.
Mayor Brandon Whipple and council members Cindy Claycomb, Becky Tuttle and Brandon Johnson voted to shut down the car show, saying it was regrettable but necessary in the shadow of the pandemic.
“Everything is different this year and things that we took for granted and enjoyed in the past, unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury,” Tuttle said. “One of my favorite photos on my phone is of Open Streets ICT. It’s a 4.1-mile event, so it’s twice as long (as Automobilia) and we had approximately 20,000 people and in the photo, literally, people are shoulder to shoulder.”
The three that voted against the mask ordinance, council members Bryan Frye, James Clendenin and Jeff Blubaugh, voted to let the show go on.
“We’ve got people who have been locked in for four months that want something to do,” Blubaugh said. “I want to give the power back to the people to decide what they feel is best.”
Clendenin linked his decision to the rationale behind the mask ordinance.
“The whole reason why we as a body passed that ordinance was to protect people while they were out in public,” he said. “I do not see an issue. I feel like the public can be safe.”
The vote came after a lengthy trial-like appeal hearing where Blick, the CEO of the show, argued that it could be conducted successfully and that event planners had worked hard to make sure they met all federal, state, county and city requirements.
He said the first step was to double the event footprint by moving it to Douglas where the cars, vendor tents and other parts of the show could be spread out for more social distancing by participants.
“Douglas is seven lanes wide, it’s a lot more open area than First Street where we’ve always been,” he said.
He also said organizers have worked to double and in some cases triple the bathroom and hand-sanitization capacity they usually provide.
Blick said the show has been an annual event for 26 years. He purchased it four years ago and turned it from a for-profit event into a charity show where 100 percent of the income after expenses goes to local nonprofit groups.
“It’s very important that we have this event, not only because of what we’re able to provide through entertainment for local people, our local community, but then also, on the back side, what we’re able to provide for local charities,” he said. “Right now they’re in dire need, their resources are completely diminished, they are needing help.”
Assistant City Attorney Beth Harlenske represented the city manager’s office, which denied the permit.
“The data clearly shows that the number of cases (of COVID-19) here locally are continuing to rise and the infection is spreading,” Harlenske said. “Health officials continue to advocate two things: wear a mask — and the city has that covered now — but also address the importance of avoiding large gatherings and that’s what this particular event is.”
She also questioned whether Blick’s group would be able to ensure mask compliance and social distancing across such a large event.
“It’s six-hour event,” she said. “There’s not much time there to do educating and then getting compliance and by the time you have compliance, you’re going to already have the spread of the virus.”
This story was originally published July 7, 2020 at 3:32 PM.
